LSU Tigers men's basketball coach Will Wade is facing scrutiny after the school was served a notice of allegations for violations in both basketball and football, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel. This is part of the federal investigation into college basketball that became public back in 2017.
Thamel reports that the allegations against the LSU basketball program are “significant,” which is why Wade is under fire. Wade could be fired without any penalty “if he's either found to commit or is essentially charged by the NCAA with a Level 1 or Level 2 violation,” and there's apparently potential for these allegations to hit that level.
Wade was already punished in the past for his actions as head coach, getting suspended for the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament in 2019 after a Yahoo Sports report came out stating the LSU coach was caught on a wiretap talking about a “strong ass” offer to a recruit. This call wound up in an HBO documentary in which Christian Dawkins, a middleman caught up in the college basketball scandal, said it was about money.
While Wade was reinstated after the NCAA Tournament, Joe Alleva, the LSU athletic director at the time, wound up stepping aside just days later. ESPN later reported in 2020 that NCAA documents show allegations of Wade making “impermissible payments” to at least 11 players.
While Wade could be the next domino to fall at LSU, the football program already self-imposed penalties back in 2020 to address potential violations brought up in the notice. Ed Orgeron left LSU at the end of this past season, with Brian Kelly taking over as head coach.
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